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How a car can be fast and ultra-efficient

Tags: efficiency, speed, mpg, 0-60

May 30 2012 5:09 PM

Q: How do you get over 100 mpg and have such quick cars?!

A: We use a Honda R18a engine, it's a 1.8l 4 cylinder gasoline engine (non-hybrid). The year it came out as one of the 3 engines available in the Honda Civic, it was rated by the EPA at 40mpg on the highway. We are just a bit LESS than half the weight of that Civic, and have right about half the aerodynamic drag. This roughly translates to twice the fuel economy and twice the acceleration as well. So now you have a car that get's 80 mpg and is 0-60 in 5 seconds. The additional fuel economy improvements come from some slick enhancements we make to the engine module, and those are the only aspect of WIKISPEED to date that we have applied to patent. -Joe Justice

8 Comments

  • Shawn D @ Thermal Zero said

    You gotta typo! You mean B18A engine. Honda never offered an R18a engine. I must say the car looks beautiful though. Maybe let us know if you guys ever need any heat insulation products of something of the sort, we manufacture custom heat blankets and thermal products here in Cincinnati, OH or need help with anything else. BTW I specialize in tuning honda engines here at our facility too. Either way very impressive stuff guys!

  • James Bauernschmidt said

    A Honda engine confines you to limits. Why not apply the Sonex technology to get a superior engine? See www.sonexresearch.com.

    I'd be curious to hear your response.

  • Devon O. said

    Has the wikispeed team ever experimented with rotary engines?
    if so what kind of results have you seen?
    if not, then why not? im assuming there may be a reason though im not much of a car guy so i havent the slightest idea what that would be

  • Awesome said

    An RX8 Wankel motor would be too sick, like putting an F-16 jet engine on a roller skate.

    For electric you would need something like a Killacycle setup.

  • Bradley P said

    I would suspect time and money are the two primary reasons why only a single engine has been evaulated so far.

  • Matt Gladman said

    how about a 1.2l VW/Audi TFSI engine?? those things are amazing on fuel and combined with a 6 speed gearbox with the right ratios it wouldn't be too slow either.

    also i noticed during the video that a large portion of the body was wobbling all over the place, i hope this problem has been addressed.


    cheers

  • Giulio said

    That's very good project. I'm in Italy, and I can tell that this cars is a prove of which is the real cost for a very good car. If we think for a while, that for 14000us dollars at least in Italy you can buy just a Fiat 500 (very small car), this is the prove that the big brand like Fiat,Ford, BMW, etc.. builder, they are not honest, they put a very high price for cheap cars. This is the future, this is the revenge of the world, because all people must pay the right price for a car and not to be robbed like till now. I'm available to promotion of this product in Italy. Hope to hear you soon.

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